


Death Will Not Come Quietly

by Black_Roses17671



Category: Horrortale - Fandom, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Buckle up kids this one's gonna be long, Dark fic, F/M, Gore, Horrortale fic, It takes a while for Sans to stop trying to kill MC, Monsters eating humans, Slow Burn, Starvation, There will be horror elements, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:14:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24015769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Black_Roses17671/pseuds/Black_Roses17671
Summary: A human, four years ago, fell into the Underground, only three years after the last.Her fall was different, however. Instead of finding herself on a bed of golden flowers, she woke up in a cold, snow filled forest.Since the day she arrived, she's been struggling for survival, watching many of her kind become devoured by the desperate, hungry beasts that stalked the land.No matter what, she's going to do everything she can to survive.Even if the entire world wants her dead.
Relationships: Sans (Undertale)/Reader, Sans(Undertale)/OC, slow burn - Relationship
Comments: 44
Kudos: 79





	1. Chapter 1

Four years.

She’d been trapped in this hellhole for four years now.

Even though time was a bit difficult to keep track of, as she didn’t have a calendar, she was able to make a rough estimate of how long she’d spent down here. 

So yeah, four years, give or take.

  
  


Luckily, her superior instincts, or rather, “paranoia,” as her old friends and family used to call it, had managed to keep her alive so far, despite the horrible, monstrous, hungry creatures that inhabited the area she had settled in.

She had seen very little of them, besides a couple glimpses of thin, ragged and scarred bodies, and dripping, wide, sharp toothed maws, but her gut instincts had told her to stay away from them at all costs.

  
  
  


Thank God for those instincts, because during her time here, she’d watched them capture, kill, and devour several other humans, some of which were only children.

They were obviously desperate, and starving, and she felt pity for them, having witnessed them decline in condition over her time here, but she knew better than to try and negotiate with them. 

She knew that they wouldn’t hesitate to devour her if she gave them the chance.

Or… Most of them, that is.

  
  
  


After about the first month of trying to survive in this unforgiving place, she had been found by a kindly bunny lady, by the name of Clove. 

She truly was a kind soul.

  
  


Even when things got tougher, and everyone else began killing and eating each other and any humans, Clove stayed the same, if not a bit more thin and raggedy. 

She was always trying to offer what small morsels she could, insisting that she “felt it in her dust that she was destined for something great.”

She didn’t really believe it, but appreciated the help more than she could ever think to express with just words.

  
  
  


Shortly after falling into the Underground, she began exploring the area of Snowdin Forest, trying to see if there was a possible escape route.

Unfortunately, she found nothing of the sort, but after deciding that she wanted to try and help Clove, at the very least, she began thinking of places to either find or store food.

  
  


And that’s when she started the snow-hare farm.

  
  


Right now, she only had about twenty to thirty rabbits, most of which were still kits, but they were well fed on twigs, bark, and whatever leaves and greenery she could find. 

  
  


She had yet to really speak to Clove about this idea, and she wasn’t fully sure how a bunny monster would feel about eating other, non-sentient rabbits, but at the very least, she could feed herself. 

Less food for her, meant more to go around to Clove, and everyone else.

Plus, she also read somewhere once that dried rabbit droppings helped start and fuel fires, and burned cleaner, so that was a huge plus.

  
  
  
  


Lately however, during the past year, she had been forced to be extra careful with covering her tracks, as she felt herself being hunted.

Even though whoever was tracking her seemed very adept in not being seen, she’d caught glimpses of the beast that stalked her; a shadow looming over a hill, a bright gleam of red, the rustling of clothing, the silver sheen of a well-sharpened axe…

Just those small clues were enough to give away the identity of her hunter.

  
  
  


The Butcher of Snowdin. 

The one that was well-known for a short temper, violent mood swings, a hatred for humans, and a deep, ever-gnawing hunger.

The one that had hunted and killed nearly every human that had stepped foot into the forest.

The one that set the traps that she constantly had to look out for.

  
  
  


There was no point in lying to herself; she was terrified of him. She’d heard stories from Clove about him, and knew that there would be no mercy if he managed to catch her.

  
  


She’d be nothing but another piece of meat in a matter of seconds. Another meal for the starving monsters. 

Another empty meal, that only soothed the pangs for a small time.

  
  
  
  


Lately, she had been cutting it a bit close for comfort, as he seemed to have located at least a rough idea of the region of the forest she lived in.

She knew that the net was closing, but she couldn’t bring herself to flee to a different region. 

  
  


Even though she still missed the surface, she had managed to finally make herself comfortable, in her crappy little hobbit-hole.

And her rabbits… She’d worked so hard to obtain and raise them. 

If he found the pen, they would almost certainly be devoured instantly.

  
  
  


No, she was staying, she wouldn’t give up, not yet.

  
  
  


She was DETERMINED.

  
  


DETERMINED to find a way out alive.

  
  
  


Seven years.

  
  


Seven years since his world went to shit.

  
  


He’d been counting every day, unable to really focus on much other than that as far as consistency. 

It was the only thing, other than his brother, of course, that he was sure would be the same, no matter what.

  
  


In a way, the passage of time was… Oddly soothing.

The first year had been the hardest for everyone, the weakest dying out, along with most of the children. After all, only the strong survived down here.

And he had already established that he was, in fact, one of the strong.

  
  
  
  


He still wasn’t fully sure why he hadn’t dusted when Undyne had struck him. After all, he only had 1 HP.

  
  


Was it something to do with DETERMINATION? His will to live?

  
  


Or maybe it was some higher power deciding that he deserved to suffer through such a horrible injury. 

  
  
  


While he couldn’t remember much of the events that led to his “accident,” as everyone called it, he remembered all too well the unbearable pain of feeling his entire body attempt to split apart, as his very being was sucked out of him.

  
  


What’s worse, that stupid method that Alphys came up with didn’t work, and the pain and trauma he went through wasn’t even worthwhile in any way.

  
  
  


However, it was just another thing he was forced to live with, along with watching his friends and family starve, crippling existential crises, horrible nightmares, and the crushing psychological toll that living in a dirt mound with no escape brought on.

Man, life really was amazing, wasn’t it?

  
  
  


Now, being one of the strongest monsters in Snowdin, and the only one really capable of taking down a human, he had gained the title “Butcher of Snowdin.”

He had to admit, it had a nice ring to it.

  
  
  
  
  


Ever since his accident, and his declaration that humans would be used as food, he was the one to do the dirty work, as everyone else was either too kind or too weak to do it themselves.

It was a good thing that his morals died a long time ago, otherwise he might feel bad about ruthlessly murdering children.

But no, all he really felt now was hatred towards the human race and the overgrown fish-stick that attacked him, love for his brother, and constant hunger pains. 

The latter wasn’t much of an issue, however. They weren’t that bad, as long as he didn’t pay attention to them.

  
  
  
  


For about a year now, he’d been hunting something off and on, occasionally losing the trail of whatever prey evaded him, and picking it up again, days or weeks later.

It was irritating how ridiculously slippery this thing was.

He knew that he had gotten close to finally catching whatever had been leading him on this wild duck race, or however that saying went, but it would shake him off just before he was able to really properly close the proverbial net around it.

  
  
  


Infuriatingly, he couldn’t even distinguish whether the creature was a human, monster, or something else.

All he knew was that it was adept in the art of fucking with his senses.

  
  
  


Even though his sense of smell wasn’t nearly as impressive as the Dog Patrol’s, he still was usually able to decipher different species with just a couple good sniffs.

With his newest prey, however, they seemed to cover much of their natural scent with pine needles, snow, and some sort of small animal droppings, maybe…?

  
  
  


Who knew, he was sick of tracking whatever the hell this was, it was beginning to prove more trouble than it was probably worth. 

  
  
  
  


Screw this, he’s been out here for hours, slippers now soaked and filled with hard chunks of snow, his mind muddled and desperate for sleep. 

  
  


He was going home, surely whatever was out there would still be around tomorrow. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Note to self: If all else fails, start a bunny farm.

Stepping out of her hobbit-hole well rested and bundled up, the human examined the forest surrounding her carefully, taking a long moment to listen to the sounds of complete and utter silence. 

Satisfied that there wasn't any sort of ruckus going on, she walked into the small dirt hut she'd built for her rabbits, carrying a bundle of dried grass and bark with her.

As usual, the bunnies that weren't busy swarmed her, fighting for attention and food. Gluttons as always.

Sighing, she dropped a large fist full of feed onto the ground, as the adults all pushed against each other in their frantic attempts to get as much food as possible.

She kneeled down, coming closer to one of the nests she had made for the rabbits, examining the kits that were nestled up cozily in the straw and fur woven nest. 

Such sweet, precious little things they were, they had just opened their eyes the other day, and already she'd seen them trying to leave the warm confines of their nursery.

Picking one up, she cuddled it affectionately as it squeaked, squirming in her grasp and pushing it's already surprisingly strong feet against her hand in an attempt to free itself.

Reluctantly, she put it back down with it's brothers and sisters, watching it curl back up in the cuddle pile and drift back to sleep.

Glancing over the adults, she picked out an older buck, scooping him up and carrying him outside, careful to make sure that the door was shut tight on her way out. 

Carrying him over to the stump, she felt a pang of pity for the poor creature as he struggled in her grasp, seemingly knowing what waited for him here.

She placed him on the surface of the cold, chipped wood, noticing how he trembled in fear as she wrapped a hand just below his scruff.

Picking up the machete she had received from Clove as a gift so long ago, she braced both herself and the rabbit, before swinging downwards, making sure to put enough force into the blow to decapitate the hare instantly, saving the poor creature from feeling any pain.

She sighed, still unable to really get used to the feeling of guilt that washed over her whenever she had to do that, but now she could eat for another day, and he was somewhere better than this cruel, twisted world.

Using a handful of clean snow, she wiped the stump free of blood, and hid whatever had splattered beneath the cold powder, picking up the head and putting it in a sack, trying to avoid looking at it.

Even though she couldn't eat the heads, she liked to drop them off somewhere in the woods closer to the town, hopeful that someone would find and make a meal of what she couldn't. 

It was the same as what she did with the bones, and what organs she couldn't stomach to eat herself.

In that small way, she liked to believe that she was helping somebody out there, making it a bit easier for them to survive.

After burying the scrap sack under a deep layer of snow and cleaning up the blood, she trod back inside her home, to begin the process of preparing the rabbit for stew. 

Or maybe she could pan sear this one, since she was beginning to get a bit sick of stew every meal.

Taking the carcass into the part of her home she had designated for skinning and cleaning, and also stripping some of her layers along the way, she entered the packed dirt walls, floor and ceiling, and placed the rabbit on a small, poorly made wooden table.

She laid it out, belly facing upwards, as she slid one of the smaller knifes in her collection, one she was carved from a bone, across it's abdomen, and began peeling the fur and top layers of skin away from the rest of the body.

Using her machete, she chopped off the feet of the rabbit, making sure to keep them connected to the pelt. Shed have to see if she could make a scarf, or maybe a hat of some kind, with the skins she'd collected. She may even have enough to make herself a new shirt, if she was lucky.

After that was done, she carved a much deeper incision into the flesh of the rabbit, holding back the natural reaction to gag as guts and blood slithered out from the gash, the smell of organs and blood cloying and thick in the musty air.

Despite the urge to vomit, she removed the organs of the small mammal, and hung it up to drain a bit.

She kept the liver, heart and lungs of the rabbit, and put the rest in a bucket to be placed with the rest of the scraps later.

Deciding to go do something productive while the rabbit drained, she wandered back outside, after bundling herself up, of course, and began collecting bark, twigs, and whatever dried up dead grass she could find under the snow.

While she was _rooting_ around (heh, this was why she never had any friends) for food to feed her rabbits, she heard the faint sounds of footsteps crunching in the snow, making her freeze.

But, she relaxed upon realizing that it was just Clove, and not some big scary, axe wielding child killer.

"Hey Clove, things going ok back in town?" She inquired, as her friend trod up next to her and sat down, unfazed by the cold snow.

"As good as ever. Thing's haven't gotten worse, if that's what you mean by 'ok.' " She answered back, puffing out a breath wearily.

Humming sympathetically, she leaned over and gave the bunny monster a gentle hug, allowing plenty of room for her to be pushed away if Clove decided she wasn't feeling up to physical contact today.

But she never pulled away from the embrace, just sighed in resignation and hugged back, a bit awkwardly.

"...You know the Butcher's still looking for you, right?" Clove said suddenly, catching the human off guard.

"Yeah, 'course I do, how could I forget?" She scoffed, pulling away from the hug, only to be met with a worried expression from her friend. 

"He's getting frustrated, and you know he's never gonna stop trying to find you."

"You're probably right, but he can get mad all he wants, I'm going to do everything I can to stay alive." She stated stubbornly, as Clove shook her head. 

"Just... Be careful out there, okay?" 

"I will." 

She glanced around briefly, before her eyes locked with the pile of snow that the scrap sack was hidden under.

"Oh, before I forget...!"

Kneeling down, she dug up the bag, before handing it to Clove, who looked a bit surprised.

"You can have this, do what you'd like with it. If you and your family aren't comfortable eating rabbit giblets, then you can give them to someone who _isn't_ an anthropomorphic bunny." She said, extending the bag out to her. 

"Oh... Oh my god, you didn't have to do this, you know-" 

"Yeah, I know, but I want to help you in what little way I can. You're the only person down here that doesn't wanna eat me, so I feel like I owe you a meal, at the very least!" She said, grinning as an expression that she could only describe as _hope_ spread across Clove's face.

"Thank you, _so much._ " She said, giving the human a tight squeeze, before rushing off, probably to go prepare something from the scraps. 

The human watched, a warm feeling spreading throughout her body despite the biting cold. 

It felt nice to help others.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We learn more about our protagonist

She trod back inside shortly after Clove left, so that she could prepare the rabbit she'd butchered for consumption. 

Seeing that most of the blood from the creature had collected in the bucket she'd placed underneath, she deemed the carcass ready for meal prep. 

First, she removed the meatier, fatty pieces of flesh, as those would make the best meals. After that, she was left with lean cuts, drumsticks, and the bones, which could be boiled for broth when she ran out of meat.

Despite the fact that she had a functioning rabbit farm, she was still as sparing as possible when it came to food, eating only one meal a day. 

Sure, she'd lost a lot of weight, but she was alive, at least. 

And, she didn't have to worry about periods either, so that was a big plus!

Back on the surface, before she had fallen into this hell, she was known as Elizabeth, daughter of two very successful and wealthy people. 

Her uncle had taught her everything she knew about wilderness survival, and she was _extremely_ grateful for his patient teachings. 

He was a hunter, and a "Doomsday Prepper," as they were called, and many considered him to be a bit... Nutty. 

But hey, all the best people had a few screws loose, right?

Ever since she had first realized the horrible predicament she had quite literally fallen into, she had renounced her old name, instead calling herself "Morgan." 

For no other reason than it just sounding frickin bad-ass.

In a way, it was like her younger, more privileged and naive self had died, leaving only her wits, determined nature, and inner survival tactician behind, manifested as 'Morgan.'

She had grown a lot as a person. 

Bringing herself back from the present, Morgan continued carefully separating different cuts of meat, before bringing everything back to the kitchen region of her home. 

She'd have to cook everything at once, just to make sure that nothing went bad on her. 

So, she pulled out the several pots and pans that Clove had given her, before things got too horribly desperate down here, and placed different kinds of meat in a few pans, allowing them to cook over the fire she had started.

It was a good thing she'd had the sense to build that stand next to it, otherwise cooking her food would be a lot harder.

While that started cooking, she chopped up some of the more tender pieces of meat, throwing it in her stew pot with some wild carrots she'd managed to just barely procure earlier this week, a potato, of which she had a garden full of, and some random wild berries she had already tested to make sure they weren't poisonous.

Filling it with a bit of leftover bone broth from the last rabbit she'd prepared, she allowed that to simmer for a while, enjoying the smell of roasting food.

A knock on the door drew her attention. It was loud, unexpected, and... Was it Clove, maybe? 

No. It couldn't be, she was busy making food for her family, and even if it was, she didn't know where her house was.

Morgan felt herself begin to panic, before a small childish voice said, "please, if you're home, let me in, something's chasing me, I don't wanna die-!"

She heard a hiccup and sob. It... Sounded like a kid...?

Allowing her curiosity to get the best of her, she opened the door slowly, coming face to face with a little girl, probably around 11, clothed in a torn up purple dress that reached her knees, and had long matted brown hair.

The kid's frightened brown eyes met her own, and she saw that she was crying.

"Oh, thank God! I-I need help, he's after me!" She said, pushing herself inside before the older human could say a word. 

Wasn't really that big a deal to her though, she was just gonna let her in anyways.

"Hey, calm down, you're safe here. What's your name?" She said, leading the child over to the small wooden table that served as her dining table, quickly locking the door behind her.

"A-aliza." She stammered back, sniffing and wiping her face. The poor thing was shamefully thin.

"Alright Aliza, go ahead and tell me what's going on." She said, trying to keep her voice low and calm, while she checked the stew. 

"S-so, I fell down here a-about a w-week ago, and I just made it out here earlier today, a-and the skeleton, he's s-saying that he's g-gonna k-kill me!" She said, voice trembling and cracking, as she struggled to keep her voice even relatively level. 

"Wait, what skeleton?" She asked, tilting her head. She didn't remember seeing a skeleton around.

Unless she was talking about Papyrus, but he never chased or flat out threatened to kill anyone.

Suddenly, a crash was heard just outside, and then the sound of wood cracking and splintering. 

Directing her stare towards her front door, she saw the tip of an axe head dislodge itself from the new hole, and a single, glowing red eye peer through, narrowing predatorily as it landed on her.

" _That one."_ Aliza squeaked, trying to scramble backwards, away from the ever-widening hole in the once sturdy door.

"Holy fucking shit." Morgan muttered, as her door flew off it's hinges, ripped away by a giant hand.

Picking up Aliza, who was thankfully pretty light, she made a mad dash towards the back exit, letting the kid slip through the small hole first.

After she had gotten about halfway through the short tunnel, she followed, taking a second to glance at the _walking fucking nightmare_ that was approaching her slowly, at that "intimidating, but definitely a huge waste of time," pace that horror movie villains always seemed to use.

Fitting, as it looked like something from a horror movie, he'd make a _wonderful_ jump-scare.

Wasting no more time, she crawled through the tunnel easily, having practiced doing so for this exact situation. 

...Well, she never really planned on something like this happening, she just wanted to be well-prepared if it did. 

Good call, Past Morgan.

The skeleton was apparently not too bright, and _really pissed_ that she'd gotten away, a clawed, skeletal hand swiping at her ankles in an attempt to drag her backwards, but she only kicked his wrist as hard as she could, making him snarl in rage.

As soon as she had gotten out, she picked up Aliza again, deciding that the poor child was too feeble and underfed looking to be expected to keep up with her, and dashed off.

No matter what, she was gonna make sure both of them got out of this alive.

Glancing behind her, she was satisfied to see that the bastard wasn't within sight-range, meaning that getting away would be much easier. 

She almost felt like laughing victoriously, but all hope of escaping was dashed, as her leg set off a bear-trap, that clamped around the limb and caused _nearly unfathomable_ amounts of pain to jolt through her entire body. 

She shoved a fist in her mouth before she could scream, instead only letting out a muffled whimper, and collapsing.

Aliza tumbled from her arms, as tears of pain and hopelessness began streaming from her eyes. 

She'd failed them both, they were as good as dead now, all because she wasn't looking where she was going.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hunt continues

"Aliza, go on without me." Morgan ordered, still struggling to hold in the cries of sheer agony that threatened to spill out of her.

"No, I-I can't, you'll d-die!" She said, tears beginning to prick the corners of her eyes.

"There's no sense in both of us being killed. Just go, please..." She said, as the child sobbed, and gripped her shirt stubbornly, shaking her head in defiance. 

They had met not even ten minutes ago, and they were already willing to sacrifice so much for the other's survival.

"Please, you're the only person down here that hasn't tried to kill me..." Aliza said, pressing closer to the adult's body.

She pet the top of her head gently, sighing in defeat. 

Deciding that she still had a chance to make it out of this, Morgan began fiddling with the metal trap that was clamped around her leg, holding back a gag at the horrible state of the marred limb.

As with most traps of this kind, there was a lever on the side, a release mechanism, but it was rusted and old, too stubborn for her to use.

"so, i'm gonna go out on a _limb,_ and assume that you've been having a pretty rough day, huh buddy?" A deep, threatening voice called, making her turn towards whoever had spoken.

It was that damned skeleton, and he couldn't look anymore pleased with himself. 

He was tall, taller than she was, reaching somewhere around 6 feet, maybe, and wide too. He wore a torn up, bloodstained blue zip up hoodie, white shirt, and black shorts, along with some pink house slippers, that were torn up and bloodied as well. 

His bones were covered in nicks, scratches and grooves, and one socket was empty and lax, but those were far from the worst injury he had. 

There was a massive, jagged hole on the left side of his skull, right above the swollen blood red eye that was fixated on both of them.

His permanent grin was curved and jagged, and full of teeth.

He swung a heavy, well used axe in his left hand, casually tossing it up and catching it again, all without looking at what he was doing, hinting at his familiarity with the weapon.

She scowled at him hatefully, tucking Aliza behind her, while the poor child trembled and cried in fear. 

Hell, if she thought it would make a difference, Morgan might have done the same, this guy was _terrifying._

"hey, what's that look for? y'know i'm just _pulling your leg."_ He said, as she mustered the most hateful glare she could. 

Here she was, stuck in a bear trap, and this asshole wasn't even finishing the job! He was just making fun of her situation!

...

"You gonna pull your thumb out of your ass and do something, or were you just gonna sit there and mock me while I bleed out?" She snarled, as the skeleton's smile dropped, and his one pupil constricted until it was just a bit bigger than a quarter. 

He almost seemed surprised by the backtalk.

The smile returned pretty quickly, but it looked a lot more strained. Funny, he looked a bit offended. 

"huh. welp, if you insist." He said, shrugging nonchalantly, as he caught the axe handle and raised it up over his head, preparing to throw it at her. 

She braced herself for the impact, but instead started when a loud, shrill voice yelled out, "SANS!"

She noticed that both Aliza and the skeleton had jumped too.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a vaguely familiar shape appeared, in the form of a second, very tall, very thin skeleton. 

She recognized it as Papyrus almost instantly, having both heard Clove's descriptions of him, and seen him setting up non-lethal traps around the forest.

He looked like he was in a rough state, just like everyone else. He was, at _least_ 9 feet tall, his posture awkwardly hunched over, with small, sunken sockets, and large, crooked and uneven teeth covered in what she hoped was spaghetti sauce. 

Even his clothes, which he had previously taken such excellent care of, were ripped and faded, but amazingly, not stained. 

"BROTHER, WHY DID YOU NOT TELL ME WE'D CAUGHT A HUMAN? AND ONE IN SUCH EXCELLENT CONDITION, AS WELL!" He said, voice cracking and shrill, hurting her ears at the sheer volume of it. 

"oh, heya paps, sorry 'bout not tellin' ya, but i had to get over here as quick as i could, this one's a troublemaker." He said, his unwavering stare fixing back onto her. 

"WELL, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? RELEASE THE TRAP AND LET'S GET GOING!" The gargantuan skeleton ordered, as the other reluctantly obeyed, managing to pull the rusted old lever _far_ easier than she did. 

As soon as her leg was free, blood began gushing from the nasty wound, and spilled over the clean white snow. 

"OH DEAR, WE CAN'T HAVE THAT. WE NEED TO KEEP ALL THAT BLOOD WHERE IT BELONGS, IF YOU'RE TO COMPLETE MY PUZZLES!" Papyrus shouted, tying a rag around the wound much too tightly, constricting the wound and forcing the bleeding to slow, as she held back a sound of pain. 

However, he also spotted the child that was still clinging to her back, and gave a loud noise of surprise.

"WHAT'S THIS, ANOTHER HUMAN?! SANS, CAN YOU BELIEVE OUR LUCK TODAY?!!" He said, as Aliza squeaked and nestled further against Morgan, who was trying to shelter the kid from the two skeletons the best she could manage.

"nope, sure can't bro. say, d'ya think we should just kill one now, make the other go through the puzzles?" He asked, tightening his grip on the axe he still held. 

"WHY WOULD WE DO THAT? TWO HUMANS PARTICIPATING IN MY PUZZLE WOULD BE MUCH MORE INTERESTING, I DO BELIEVE THAT THAT WOULD BE A FIRST!" Papyrus responded back. 

"but two'd be more work to keep an eye-socket on, and if we kill one now, we get to eat later on today." He argued, his tone beginning to hinge a bit on irritated. It was clear he wanted them dead as quickly as possible. 

"BUT!!! IF WE MAKE THEM BOTH SOLVE PUZZLES, WE GET _TWICE_ AS MUCH SPAGHETTI TOMORROW!!" Papyrus shouted back, the glee in his voice making it apparent he wasn't noticing his brother's irritation.

"fine." The other grumbled, realizing that he wouldn't be able to win the argument, and sighed in defeat.

"NOW, COLLECT THE SMALLER ONE, SANS, I WILL GET THE LARGER." Papyrus ordered, lifting her up like she was nothing more than a house cat.

Which, she might as well be, compared to him. 

Poor Aliza, she could hear her little yelp of fear as Sans picked her up, and slung her over his shoulder. 

But, by the looks of things, this situation could have ended a lot worse. 

Morgan just hoped that she could find a way past the "puzzles" that she'd be forced to solve.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morgan finds herself at the mercy of dumb luck.

Even though she hated the position she was caught in, Morgan knew better than to try and struggle from her captor's grasp. 

If she did, not only were the chances of her _actually getting away_ miserably low, but he could just decide to kill her outright. 

Or, Sans could convince him to do so.

So, for now, her best bet was to just keep Aliza close, and pray that her IQ could handle whatever challenges Papyrus threw at her.

She just hoped that they got to their destination before the pain in her leg became too unbearable, or she managed to bleed through the incredibly tight bandage wrapped around it. 

Thankfully, however, Papyrus didn't carry her around for too long, eventually plopping her down on the cold snow, with his brother doing the same with Aliza, who let out a startled squawk.

"HUMANS, WE HAVE ARRIVED!" Papyrus announced helpfully, even he more or less already revealed that fact by putting them down, but that didn't really matter.

"SO!! FOR YOUR FIRST PUZZLE, I CHALLENGE YOU BOTH TO CROSS THAT EMPTY EXPANSE OF SNOW!" He continued, as the permanent grin on Sans' face sharpened a bit.

She watched him, eyes narrowed, as he seemed to notice the glare she was sending his way. 

"what's wrong, pal, you look pretty _on edge."_ He said, with a sneer.

Her scowl only deepened. He was teasing her, there was some kind of hint hidden in the seemingly misplaced pun, and she didn't trust it.

"c'mon, go ahead and do the puzzle already, if you think you're _sharp_ enough for it." He said, before quieting down, and watching her intently, with a hand nestled in the empty, damaged socket.

Looking down at the snow before her, Morgan noticed a slightly darker patch, in the shape of a hollow crescent.

Tugging Aliza, who had begun taking a step forward, close to her, she picked up a nearby stick, and tossed it onto the dark spot, making the trap hidden beneath snap shut, mere inches from her and the child.

"well, that was a close _shave."_ Sans snorted, even though she could see the disappointment glimmering in that bloody light, and tugging at the edges of his strained smile.

"THAT'S ENOUGH, SANS!" Papyrus shouted, staring down at his shorter brother in disdain, apparently not enjoying the puns.

"OH DEAR, I FORGOT TO EXPLAIN THE RULES! WOULD YOU MIND, BROTHER?" He added, as the other skeleton sighed.

"alright, so you've got five puzzles, and three freebies. if you want help, just flash us the number of freebies you have left, and we'll bail you out. kinda seems like it might be a bit too easy for ya though, since there's two of ya, so we're just gonna make that two freebies." He said, grinning more broadly as Aliza clung to her leg, obviously frightened.

"AND, SINCE WE'RE LIMITING YOUR FREEBIES, YOU GET TO HELP EACH OTHER OUT, JUST TO MAKE SURE WE DEFEAT AND KILL YOU FAIRLY!" Papyrus added, a bit too cheerfully for Morgan's taste, but she did like the way Sans' smile dropped.

"paps, that's not fair, they're cheating by-" 

"NONSENSE, BROTHER! ARE YOU DOUBTING MY PUZZLE CALIBRATING SKILLS?" He questioned, cutting the shorter skeleton off before he could complain further. 

"no, i'm not, i just-" 

"THEN, ONTO THE NEXT PUZZLE!" Papyrus said, interrupting his brother yet again, and dashing off with a mad cackle before anyone could object. 

After the more exuberant skeleton had left, Sans turned towards them, wearing a tight, threatening grin, his hand tightening around his broken socket and pulling roughly, making both humans flinch at the crackling sound that followed the harsh tug.

"you both are _damn lucky_ i don't just kill you **_right. now._** " He hissed, before vanishing into thin air, leaving them alone.

"... We're alive." Aliza deadpanned, still looking a bit stunned, most likely from the realization that if Morgan hadn't pulled her back, she would have been killed instantly.

"Yup, we sure are, and we need to do everything we can to make sure we stay that way." She answered, as the kid nodded wordlessly.

"So uh, for now, I think our best bet is to just go through with the puzzles, if we tried to run, we'd almost definitely be caught and killed. I'm sure you've noticed how much Sans wants us dead." 

"Yeah..." The child answered, shuddering softly.

"We need to make sure that we don't give him the chance to kill us, and if we manage to get Papyrus to like us, we'll be untouchable." Morgan added, squeezing Aliza's smaller hand in her own reassuringly.

"We'll make it out of this, one way or another." 

After the brief pep-talk, both humans proceeded along the path, eventually re-finding both skeletons, standing on the other side of an expanse of strangely blue colored snow. 

For whatever reason, Aliza refused to so much as touch the snow, but tugged her arm desperately when Morgan tried to simply walk around the patch. 

Curious, she knelt over and dipped a couple fingers into the stuff, feeling that it had a sort of well-chewed bubblegum consistency, and was _extremely_ sticky.

After a lot of attempted persuading from both brothers to just cross the damned snow, Morgan decided that the safest bet was to just use a freebie, and have Papyrus carry them both, one at a time, across the sticky snow, while Sans rolled his eye at them.

"HUMANS!! YOU ARE DOING VERY WELL INDEED! AT THIS RATE, YOU MAY EVEN GET TO PUZZLE NUMBER FIVE, WHICH NOBODY HAS EVER DONE!!!" He yelled enthusiastically, practically in his brother's non-existent ear. 

"BUT, HOWEVER, IT HAS COME TO MY ATTENTION THAT YOU ARE BOTH VERY THIN, AND INJURED SEVERELY, WHICH I WILL NOT ALLOW ANY FURTHER!! YOU BOTH NEED TO BE IN TIP-TOP CONDITION TO CONTINUE ON FAIRLY!!" 

...Was he going to feed them?

"SO, HUMANS, I WILL BE WAITING JUST PAST THAT CORNER WITH A BOWL OF MY GOURMET, PIPING HOT AND FILLING SPAGHETTI!" He shouted, before sprinting off.

Sans remained standing in his spot however, watching them both with an amused grin splitting his face. 

"y'know, if i were you guys, i'd stay away from papyrus' spaghetti. they say he has the 'human touch,' take it how you will." He said, after a long pause. 

"Oh? And why, pray tell, would we trust the very person that's been trying to kill us since the moment we stepped foot into the woods?" Morgan shot back, as he sneered at them.

"fine then, ignore my advice, see if i care whether you die or not. but, if you decide that you want to trust me, head over to my sentry station. i'll make you a hot-dog instead." He responded, before shoving his hands in his pockets and walking off in the direction Papyrus had run.

"Hey, Aliza, what do you think we should do?" Morgan asked, looking down at the child. 

"I... Don't know. I have a _really_ bad feeling about Sans, and he's probably gonna try and kill us again, but what if he's actually right about Papyrus' spaghetti? What of there's something horribly wrong with it?" She asked, as her small body began to tremble weakly, either from the cold, or fear.

"I'm not sure either, but I trust Papyrus a hell of a lot more than I trust Sans, so I think we'd better go for the spaghetti." She said, as Aliza nodded, although a bit hesitantly.

"Alright, guess we'd better go find him then." 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both Fallen Humans find themselves become "Humanitarians," as Sans calls them.
> 
> What does that mean? 
> 
> And do they really want to know...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!
> 
> So uh, I've been gone for a while!
> 
> I wanna say a quick apology, I've just been really busy with my other like 7 books, and with my schoolwork, with it being the end of the semester and all that.  
> But!! I put everything down for a little while to write you guys a chapter to hold you over until summer officially starts, since you guys really seem to enjoy this story!

Morgan trod through the snow, leaning as lightly as she could against Aliza as they moved in the direction that Papyrus had run off to.

They'd already agreed that the more exuberant skeleton was a safer bet than his wise-cracking, mean spirited brother, and opted to trust whatever he had prepared for them.

He was less likely to poison them, after all.

As they walked along the path, which was nothing more than hard packed snow, Morgan thought of her rabbits, and began to grow concerned for them.

Who would feed them is she wasn't around to?

Was Sans going to find them?

What would he do when he did?

Well, she already knew that answer to the last question, as he was likely to simply kill and distribute them, considering he probably had no care for all the hard work she'd put into raising them.

_Bastard._

Still, she was saddened at the thought of all the effort she'd exerted going to waste.

She also felt bad for her rabbits, simply because they were going to be ruthlessly murdered, most likely within hours.

Even the kits...

"AH, I SEE THAT YOU HAVE DECIDED TO SAMPLE MY CULINARY EXPERTISE AFTER ALL!" The close-range shout startled her form her thoughts, and pulled Morgan back into reality.

Aliza was shaking, her face pinched in some mixture of displeasure and fear. 

The gargantuan monster stooped down to their level, making both humans wince at the sound of his bones crackling from the unnatural angle he contorted his body into.

In his gloved hands, there rested a large, pristine white porcelain bowl, filled to the brim with steaming, fragrant spaghetti.

Both her and the child's stomachs rumbled; it actually looked really good.

Papyrus handed each of them an over-sized metal fork, surprisingly gentle with the gesture.

"GO ON THEN, EAT UP!" He yelled, beaming as Morgan snagged a forkful of pasta, and examined it.

"HUMAN, WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT THE FOOD SO INTENTLY, RATHER THAN EATING IT?" He asked, with a note of suspicion evident in his boisterous voice.

She opened her mouth, about to try and convince him that she _wasn't_ checking for anything... _Unsavory_ in the spaghetti, but she was interrupted.

"COULD IT BE THAT...? YOU ARE ALSO A PASTA ENTHUSIAST?!?!" The suspicion was _gone_ without a trace, replaced with what seemed to be child-like joy and excitement.

_Alright, guess we're goin' with that excuse._

With hardly a moment of hesitation, she nodded aggressively, giving him a shy, reluctant smile.

" _GASP!"_ He shouted, as several small flecks of light reflected in his sockets, nearly standing back up to full height and dropping the bowl in his glee.

He did appear to remember the two hungry humans currently preparing to eat from the bowl, however, and kept his composure, at least somewhat.

"LARGER HUMAN!! AFTER YOU AND THE SMALLER HUMAN HAVE FINISHED YOUR MEAL, YOU WILL DISCUSS WITH ME YOU LOVE FOR SPAGHETTI!" He shouted, somehow packing even more enthusiasm into that one sentence, before opting to quiet down and allow them to eat in peace.

As Morgan took her first bite, she noticed some odd things about the spaghetti she was technically being forced to eat.

Firstly, the noodles were a very strange texture; much more rubbery than she remembered pasta from the surface being

Secondly, the weirdly _good_ flavor that the dish had. She really wasn't expecting it to be _this delicious._

It was easily the best spaghetti she'd ever had, and she wanted _more._

"IT WARMS ME TO SEE TWO HUMANS EAT SO MUCH! YOU WILL BE PLEASANTLY PLUMP IN NO TIME!" Papyrus yelled, as she paused to chew the mouthful she was working on.

That was... A bit of a creepy comment...

It didn't matter though; if she had to eat some very suspicious spaghetti and listen to Papyrus say weird things to survive, she would do it.

In a matter of a few more minutes, both her and Aliza had eaten their fill.

Despite both humans eating as much as their shrunken stomachs could handle, they had only finished about a quarter of the bowl.

Satisfied, Morgan took a moment to hobble over to a nearby tree, and rest against it, stifling a burp.

Aliza joined her, but she wore an odd expression, picking at her teeth quizzically.

"What's wrong?" She asked, as the child moved closer.

"I dunno, there's a weird...texture..." She paused, pulling what appeared to be a long strand of blonde hair from her mouth, as her expression froze.

_Skeletons don't have hair, so how did a strand get in the food?_

"...Let's just see what Papyrus has for us next..." Morgan muttered, trying to keep herself from thinking too much on where the hair had come from.

She'd just eaten, and the more she thought about it, the more she wanted to vomit.

Aliza, thankfully, didn't object with moving on, and nodded, helping her older companion to her feet.

After about five minutes of shambling through the Winter Wasteland, as Morgan began mentally calling it, both humans found what appeared to be a small wooden shed.

The sounds of something hard hitting hollow wood was coming from the strange structure, each tap was rhythmic and precise.

Stepping in front of it revealed none other than Sans, his long, sharp fingers tapping against the wooden shelf he was leaned against, and his unoccupied hand gripping his broken socket.

The wood already had several niches and hollow divets where his phalanges were settled, hinting that he had spent a lot of time here.

After a moment of both humans staring silently at him, awaiting a response, he seemed to snap out of whatever daze he'd been in, and his eye-light refocused, and pinned onto them.

His perma-grin stretched a bit, as his socket lidded and crinkled in amusement, his posture relaxing.

"well, if it isn't the _humanitarians."_ He rumbled, a teasing chuckle following the strange statement.

Aliza shrunk away and gripped Morgan's arm tightly, seeming like she was attempting to hide herself from Sans.

Ignoring the odd feeling his words gave her, she stood up straighter and stared down at him coldly.

"What do you mean by "humanitarians"? Neither of us have the time to play Baulderdash with you." She hissed back, while he didn't seem the least bit fazed by her hostility.

_('Baulderdash' is an older board game that involves making up words/definitions to words, and guessing definitions. I highly recommend playing it.)_

"really? use that dumb mushy brain of yours, _human,_ i really don't feel like giving you a dictionary definition of every big fancy word i say." He shot back smugly, as she narrowed her eyes.

_"Human" is, well, humans._

_The term "itarian" means..._

_"A specific kind of diet", I think._

Morgan froze, as she finally managed to put two-and-two together.

_He was saying that they **ate** their own kind._

"...You mean to tell me that-"

"yup." He interrupted, as she heard Aliza whimper.

"i mean, i knew you were messed up; hell, everyone is down here, but that's, uh... that's pretty fucked up." He said, his tone becoming judgmental.

"guess you aren't a cheater after all, huh kid?" He threw in, locking his engorged pupil onto Aliza.

"Like you're one to talk, you damn hypocrite." Morgan shot back, taking a step away when he began laughing.

"oh, geez, you _must_ be stupid or somethin'. listen, i'm no human, if you haven't noticed. i could eat _buckets_ of ya little tykes without it meaning _anything."_ He said, wiping a hysterical tear from his socket.

"i mean, not that i would, but..." He muttered under his breath, almost going unnoticed by the two humans in front of him.

"Wait, have you never eaten a-" Aliza piped up, only to be cut off.

"doesn't matter." He growled, shooting her what seemed to be a warning look, before his expression relaxed again.

"anyways, i can't say i really blame you for eating his spaghetti. from what i hear, he puts some pretty kick-ass spices in it." He stated, as he scratched the inside of his broken socket.

They both winced from the nails-on-chalkboard sound that was produced by the action.

Sans gave them a hollow grin, and his eye-light shrunk a bit, enough for the pitch darkness on the inside of his skull to be visible.

"paprika, sage, cumin, basil..." He muttered lowly.

_Was he... Actually giving them the recipe?_

_What's he doing?_

"... _brian."_ He said, tone sharpening.

They both froze, horrified at what he was insinuating.

He didn't stop there, however.

"poppy, cinnamon, kobe, clove, rosemary, nutmeg, cocoa, jasmine, saffron..." He paused, fixing his empty stare back onto them, as his smile widened from the expressions of horror both humans had.

"hey, this is off topic, but what were you guys' names?" 

_Oh God._

Feeling her stomach churn aggressively, Morgan made a point of stepping closer to Sans, before she blew chunks all over him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, (not sorry) but I had to end such a serious chapter on a funny note.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...In which Morgan learns that throwing up on a skeleton that's looking for an excuse to kill you is a bad idea.

Sans stood, in what seemed like silent shock, and stared down blankly at his ruined jacket, now artfully decorated in partially digested spaghetti.

_Bullseye._

He didn't even seem to notice the chunks that had scattered over the rest of his front, he only appeared to see the state of his already torn and stained jacket and t-shirt.

"Huh, y'know, I actually think you look better like this..." She said, in a mockingly thoughtful tone, as he raised his head to meet her eyes.

She was a bit disturbed to see that the engorged eye-light had disappeared entirely, the absence of the red orb somehow being more eerie than the bloody light itself.

_Damn, he looked **pissed.**_

"... _you little **shit.** " _He hissed, in a dangerously quiet, but festering tone.

"That's _Big Shit_ to you, asshole. Serves you right for purposely trying to scare me and the kid." She shot back, gesturing toward Aliza, who looked nearly ready to faint.

He didn't seem to hear her, though, as his breathing got more erratic, and the hand that was still inside his socket began pulling. _Hard._

Morgan watched in horror and mild distress as he continued to pull, despite the little flakes of dust that were being loosed by the harsh tugging, and the sound of creaking bones grew louder.

All the while, he seemed unfazed by the pain, as the hollow smile he always seemed to wear only grew larger, and tighter, until it looked like his face might split from it.

Eventually, he seemed satisfied when the bone underneath the socket he was yanking on cracked. It didn't break off, but there was a very noticeable line on the top of his cheek.

When that was done and over with, he turned back towards them, and the light returned.

She never thought she'd actually be _relieved_ to see it.

"you're lucky that paps is so insistent about keeping you alive." He growled dangerously, before getting up and walking off, presumably to clean up.

"Well, let this be a lesson to you, Aliza," she began, as the child turned towards her.

"Don't let people just push you around, no matter how much bigger or stronger they are than you. Even if someone scares you, _never_ let them see that fear. They'll eat you alive if you do." She said solemnly, as Aliza nodded softly.

"Is... That why you keep standing up to Sans?" She asked quietly.

"Yup. But in this case, I'd say that there's less of a fear of bullying, and more of a fear of being, quite literally, eaten alive." 

The kid smiled a bit, and hugged her waist, almost knocking Morgan off balance in the process.

"You know, you actually kinda remind me of someone I know." She mumbled, voice muffled by the thick clothing the adult was wrapped in.

"Oh? Do you think I could meet this friend one of these days?"

"Yeah, I think you guys would get along great."

Morgan smiled, as she led Aliza farther down the path that was before them.

They did, after all, have two more puzzles waiting for them.

And they'd have to complete them if they wanted to survive.

Morgan, however, neglected to notice the single, bright green eye that watched them from the shadows.

"Well, I'll be... Looks like she just might make it after all..." A small voice muttered to itself thoughtfully.

A twig snapped a few feet away, making the owner of the voice retreat back underground, mere moments before a pair of clawed hands snatched at the empty air it had been occupying just a second before.

The monster growled lowly in frustration. 

She'd been so close this time...

"HUMANS! YOU HAVE BOTH DONE WONDERFULLY WITH SURVIVING MY PUZZLES, THUS FAR! YOU MAY EVEN MAKE IT TO THE GRAND FINALE!" Papyrus screeched, as Sans winced beside him.

Morgan noticed, with smug satisfaction, that there were still stains on his clothing. 

He locked gazes with her, eye shrinking while his teeth pulled into a tight, threatening smile.

"SANS! STOP LOOKING AT THE HUMAN LIKE THAT, YOU'RE BEING RUDE!" He scolded his brother loudly, thankfully making the shorter skeleton back off a bit.

"AHEM! AS I WAS SAYING, SINCE YOUR BELLIES ARE FULL, I BELIEVE THAT IT WOULD BE BEST FOR YOU BOTH TO GO AND... _CONVERSE..._ WITH THE RESIDENTS OF SNOWDIN! AS, ADMITTEDLY, I DID NOT ANTICIPATE FOR YOU TO DO THIS WELL, AND REQUIRE A BIT OF TIME TO PREPARE YOUR NEXT CHALLENGE." He added, but not before shooting his brother a look.

"Are they friendly?" Aliza whispered, leaning closer to her companion.

_"God no."_ Morgan muttered back, as the child noticeably shrunk in on herself.

"SO, HUMANS, I WILL ESCORT YOU THERE, AND FINISH PREPARATIONS! COME NOW!" He said, as he lifted them both up, seemingly effortlessly, and carried them off.

The frighteningly large skeleton could move _pretty_ _damn fast,_ Morgan and Aliza realized, as he sprinted through what had been seemingly endless expanses of snow and trees with a practiced grace and ease.

Before long, the town was well within view, making both humans a bit nervous.

Papyrus set them down just outside of the town itself, giving them what seemed to be a small, but encouraging smile, which was surprisingly pleasant, despite the horrible state of his teeth.

"Now, I Will Come Back As Soon As The Puzzle Is Ready, Goodbye Humans." He said, in a much more quiet, gentle tone than either were used to, coming from him. 

He stood before them for a moment, before gently patting both of them on the top of the head, and running off, albeit a bit hesitantly.

"So... What now? Do you think we should head-" Aliza was cut off as Morgan shushed her, and led her towards a large, but run-down building on the outskirts of the town. 

"C'mon, I know a friend here, she'll keep us safe until Papyrus comes back." She hissed softly, giving the sturdy, pine door a knock.

Sure enough, Clove opened the door, the confusion on her features shifted into surprise, then fear.

"Get inside, quickly." The bunny monster muttered, practically dragging them both into the inn.

"Oh dear, there's a child with you!" Clove gasped, as she lifted one of Aliza's arms to inspect her.

The poor kid shrank away, afraid of the kindly bunny lady.

At this point, Morgan didn't blame her, there were almost no monsters left in the Underground that wouldn't either eat or kill a human when they got half the chance.

"Hey, it's alright, she'd the friend I mentioned. Clove's been helping me survive down here just about since I fell." She said, trying to offer some sort of reassurance to the frightened child.

Thankfully, she relaxed a bit, but still made a point to carefully watch the bunny monster, while Morgan shared all the trials and troubles they'd been through. 

And all within a single day...

"You poor things! I know it isn't much, but I'll get a kettle of tea going. I feel like we could all do with having our poor nerves settled a bit." She said softly, giving them a gentle smile, before heading off towards the kitchen.

"Tea sounds lovely, thank you." Morgan answered back, just loud enough to carry her voice through the house. 

"She seems nice, I feel kinda bad for being so rude now..." Aliza muttered, as the older human pet the top of her messy head reassuringly.

"It's ok, I'm sure she understands. There's no issue with being cautious, especially in a place like this." She reassured the child, who nestled against her, from either a need for protection, or warmth. 

Whatever it was, Morgan wasn't going to be an asshole and push her away, even though she normally avoided all forms of physical contact. 

In times like these, any kind of comfort was scarce, and should be cherished. 

Returning with a tray, on which several tea cups rested, Clove gave both humans a gentle smile, and set it down on a nearby coffee table.

"Go ahead and help yourselves, you're probably just about chilled to the bone by now. Don't be shy to let me know if you two need anything else. Well, other than food, I'm afraid we haven't really any of that."

Such a sweet, kind lady Clove was, she didn't deserve this horrible fate...

After only ten minutes, Aliza had finished her cup of tea, and promptly passed out on Morgan's lap, while the adult herself was already yawning, not far behind. 

"You poor things, I'm sure you're exhausted. Feel free to sleep here, I'll be sure to keep an eye on you two." Clove said, in a low voice, as not to disturb the child.

"Thanks, Clove, we both really appreciate it. Papyrus should be back soon, though, so I should probably stay awake." Morgan mumbled sleepily, her jaw nearly cracking from an especially long yawn shortly after, 

Clove gave her a concerned, yet slightly amused look, before getting up, and making her way to the kitchen area of her inn.

Morgan had just about nodded off, when she pushed a clove (heh) of garlic in her face, causing her to jerk away in surprise. 

"Hold onto that, dear, whenever you feel yourself drifting off, take another whiff. That should keep you awake." The bunny lady retorted, passing her the garlic. 

She was smiling, faintly, like she was enjoying herself. Morgan wondered how long it had been since she smiled like this.

"Thanks, Clove. You're a lifesaver." She said back, a bit more alert now.

"Oh, not a problem, just be sure to give it back before you leave. Mint might have worked better, but I'm afraid we're fresh out of that."

"...Was that a pun?"

"I think it was! Sorry, I'm afraid it's nearly habit by now." The bunny lady mumbled sheepishly. 

"Nah, it's alright, that was one of the better ones I've heard." Moran held back a shudder when she thought of those awful, morbid puns that Sans would spit at her.

Clove only smiled at her, before suddenly sitting straight up, just as knocking started from the door.

"Take Aliza and hide." She hissed softly, gesturing towards the broom closet. 

With barely a moment of hesitation, Morgan obeyed, and carried the startled, half-awake child to the closet, and sat in the darkness, hushing the confused mumblings that Aliza was trying to communicate with.

"Oh, the Queen? Yes, I'll be out in just a moment." Clove said, her voice muffled.

Although the sound was distorted, Morgan could sense the underlying nervousness hidden in her usually cheerful, light tones.

The door closed, after a few mumbles from the monster that had come to deliver the message.

Suddenly, the closet door opened, revealing a very frightened looking Clove, who urgently explained to them that the Queen herself was here, and expected every monster from Snowdin to come out for role-call, and anyone missing would be punished for their disobedience. 

"What do we do then?" Aliza asked, clearly beginning to become fearful once again.

"You two have to stay here, if you leave now, everyone will see you. Just...stay here until I return. Be quiet, and don't go near the windows." Clove muttered, while putting on her coat and hat, both of which were tattered and worn.

Morgan just nodded, taking Aliza closer to the back of the inn, where there were no windows.

"Goodbye, my friends, I will be back soon." The bunny monster said softly, before leaving them alone, and fearing for their lives.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which progress is made.

Taking the child by the hand, Morgan led her towards the front part of the inn, peering carefully through the blinds.

A group of monsters was lined up a little ways away, each and every one of them looking beside themselves with unrestrained fear.

Even Papyrus was there, seeming strangely nervous for someone usually so confident and self-assured.

Pacing back and forth in front of them was another, much more fearsome looking monster, with flaming red hair tied back into a messy, tattered ponytail, and a bloody crown sat atop it's head.

The monster had blue, scaly skin, and was wearing a chestplate of rusted metal, with a red colored gown underneath, the skirt torn and motheaten. 

Morgan didn't like the look of this monster.

If she could take a guess, she assumed this was the infamous Queen of the Underground.

Undyne. 

The fish monster turned, nearly facing their direction, before they quickly shut the blinds, and stepped back from the window. 

They both knew that if she caught sight of them, they were doomed.

As they backed up, Morgan bumped into something, turning around in alarm.

She didn't remember anything in the middle of the room.

No, instead, she was more than a little surprised to come face-to-face with none other than Sans, who seemed at least mildly entertained by their alarm.

"What are you doing here?" Morgan hissed, keeping her voice low for fear of being heard.

"i'm here to bring ya back, queenie woulda gotten suspicious if paps wasn't around for role-call, and we can't have her pokin' around." He muttered gruffly, the already low tones of his voice becoming even quieter.

Well, at least he was competent enough to avoid drawing Undyne's attention. 

Morgan nodded, but pulled Aliza closer, as the child shook in what she assumed was fear.

"Alright, we'll go with you." She said, shuffling a bit closer to him.

"pfft, like you really have a choice." He scoffed, grinning smugly.

She couldn't really bring herself to be irritated with his smart-ass attitude now. 

He was right, the only choice they had was between certain death, and less-certain death. 

And as much as she hated his non-existent guts, she'd rather be killed by him, than fish-bitch out there. 

"Won't she realize you're gone though?" Aliza piped up, in a shaky voice.

"naw, she still thinks i'm dead." He muttered back nonchalantly, despite the odd statement. 

"now c'mon, we don't have all day." He grumbled, gesturing to the back of the inn.

They followed him, as he led them behind the counter, and pulled the lever on the old antique cash register, opening a panel in the flooring. 

"There's a secret passage?" Morgan muttered, surprised that Clove had never mentioned anything about it before. 

"yep, now hurry up and get down there, it closes again in about twenty seconds." He said, practically shoving them into the passageway.

"It's pitch black down here, do you have a light or something?"

"right. ugh, i don't know how your damned species has survived for so long with such shitty vision." He sighed, stepping into the passage with them, as the floor closed back up.

Thankfully, his eye was bright enough to provide a little light.

"Hey, looks like that creepy-ass eyeball's good for something!" Morgan muttered sarcastically, as Sans only grumbled in response. 

Both humans allowed him to go first, to make sure he wasn't leading them into an elaborate trap.

Thankfully, as they continued along the dark tunnel, the only sounds that were heard were their own footsteps and breathing. 

No clicks, no pins clipping into place, and no tiles grating. Seems this wasn't a trap, after all.

Aliza, however, began to panic, if the quicker, shallow gasps of air were any indication. She was almost trying to push them along further, moving a bit faster, as though trying to get out as quickly as possible.

She probably just didn't like the dark.

Morgan didn't blame her, she was a bit freaked out too. 

The inky black brought back some... Uncomfortable memories. 

Memories she'd rather keep buried.

Something furry brushed against her leg, making her gasp as she jerked away.

"what now?" Sans hissed, clearly irritated. 

"Something brushed my leg, I don't know if it was-" 

**"when."** He growled, his pupil suddenly focusing, now more sharp and vibrant than she'd ever seen.

"Just now-" She stopped herself, as he moved past them, halting only a couple steps away.

He crouched down in front of a hole, that was roughly about a foot tall, and maybe four inches across.

"rats. didn't know there were still some down here, most of them were hunted back when the famine first started." He explained, scratching at the knawed wood around the hole, and producing a grating noise.

"keep quiet." 

After a moment, they could just see a small, furry snout peep from the hole, as Sans' predatory grin sharpened.

With a quick sniff, the rest of it's head poked out, it's body slowly following. 

With a swift movement, Sans snatched the small, now squeaking creature up, and twisted it's head mercilessly, just before it could bite him.

It fell limp, neck hanging at an odd, unnatural angle.

"the rats down here are stupid, and blind. comes from living in the dark, i guess." He said, prodding one of it's large, milky white eyes.

A small wet _squish_ ensued, making both humans recoil slightly.

"What are you gonna do with it?" Aliza questioned softly, as Sans shuffled back upwards.

"cook it up and eat it, obviously." He said, dryly, even though Morgan felt like he was almost mocking them for their stupidity.

Really, what else was one supposed to do with a dead animal in the middle of a famine?

"come on, we're almost out." Sans hissed, stuffing the dead rat in one of his pockets. 

Following the skeleton, Morgan did her best to ignore the noises of scratching and scrabbling behind them, even as it grew louder. 

"How did the rats survive down here so long, if there's so little food?" She asked, trying to draw her mind away from the uncomfortable noises.

"dunno, but there's a lot of 'em. back when the famine first started, they were everywhere. most of 'em lived down here though. pretty sure they eat meat now, mostly." He answered, turning his head to glance briefly at them, almost as though checking to make sure they were still following him.

"i actually saw the little buggers swarm a monster once, they picked him clean before he could do much to stop 'em." He added, morbidly, as his pace quickened slightly. 

"Will they try to eat us too?" Aliza asked, her small legs having trouble keeping up with the others.

"yep, we should probably try and get out as quick as possible." Sans said, simply, before damn near breaking into a sprint.

Morgan caught on quickly, scooping up Aliza, and darting after him.

Squeaks, scratching, and knawing sounds echoed behind them, the once ever louder crescendo of noise growing quieter as they ran. 

Although there was no light, other than the faint glow Sans' eye gave off, she could feel the air growing crisper, and colder, hinting that they were moving closer to the surface.

However, despite the fact that Aliza only weighed about fifty pounds, and Morgan was much more in shape than she had been on the surface, she was still booking it with a child in her arms.

Her body begged for a break, as she began slowing.

Sans noticed her fatigue, and slowed his own pace, enough to keep up with her. 

She was startled when he suddenly dragged her backwards, forcing her to stop.

"What the hell, we need to keep going!" She hissed, trying to wriggle free from his vice-like grip.

"you're not going to make it, and neither am i, so i'm gonna try something." He said, tugging her into an awkward half-hug, as Aliza trembled. 

"hold on a bit, this could take a second." 

He stood completely still, seemingly concentrating, although for what, she had no idea.

After several moments of relative silence, as the rats moved closer, Morgan opened her mouth to say something, just as a sudden, extremely violent, wave of vertigo hit her, almost causing her to fall.

For a moment, it felt like she was floating, as her entire body felt disconnected from everything.

The moment was gone, as her feet hit solid ground, and she stumbled unsteadily.

Blinking, she saw flashing spots of light across her vision, as she struggled to grasp where she was.

A cold lump of snow hit her directly in the face, making her splutter as the freezing slush helped her ground herself. 

"heh, yeah, the first one's always a bit rough. you'll be fine in a minute or so." Sans said, as she could just barely make out the shape of his body, but only really because the dark blue he wore stood out so much against the blinding white of the landscape behind him.

"You ok, Aliza?" She questioned groggily, as the child groaned in response.

Wiping the snowball that Sans had thrown at her from her face, Morgan sat up, looking around.

_Wait a minute... This place looks familiar._

She stood up, still wobbling and dizzy, and began heading towards the small clearing that was just within view. 

"hey! where're you going?" Sans said, as Aliza slowly got up. 

She ignored him. 

_If I'm right, there should be..._

_Aha!  
_

There, just where she had left it, was a small piece of fabric, tied to a branch on one of the birch trees. 

After making sure that it was, indeed, the piece she was looking for, she headed north, while the other two followed her.

As expected, she soon found her old hobbit-hole, along with the rabbit hutch. 

Her home had definitely seen better days.

The entire door had been ripped off it's hinges, and the few bits of makeshift furniture and tools she had inside were thrown around. 

Sans had really made a mess of it. 

Without saying a word to either him, or Aliza, she picked up a bundle of greens, and entered the hutch, greeted by several very hungry rabbits.

"where the he'll did you get rabbits?" Sans questioned, his tone sharp. 

Turning back to look at him, Morgan noticed him eyeing one of the plumper ones, a hungry glint in his blood-colored iris. 

"Found them, they'd fallen down here, like me. Figured I should raise them, and kept 'em as a food source." She answered, picking one of the juveniles up by the scruff of it's neck, and petting it's velvety ears. 

Aliza moved towards her, and reached out to pet the bunny, surprised when Morgan offered it to her to hold. 

She didn't protest though, and seemed quite happy to hold the little guy, who was rather mild-mannered for a teenager. 

Sans, though, looked like he was about to straight up pick a rabbit, and eat it whole right then and there, and he was now staring silently at the nest of kits, who were snuggled up, and unaware of the danger. 

Morgan wasted no time getting between him and the baby bunnies he was ogling, bending down to pet them gently. 

"If you want, Sans, we could take one or two back to Papyrus...?" She began carefully, snapping him from his daze.

He blinked, before nodding silently, as she began picking through the horde of rabbits as they ate, trying to find the older, plumper ones. 

Finding two that met her criteria for slaughtering, she pushed the first one into Sans' arms, surprising him.

"Hold it, please. And don't kill it yet." She instructed, as he clumsy grabbed hold of the poor thing, who was already terrified.

"Gentler, you'll freak it out more, and it'll just start trying to get away." She chided, as he shot her a dirty look, and adjusted his hold on it. 

"That's better." 

Now it looked less like he was trying to put it in a choke hold, and more like a child would hold an animal for the first time.

It was... Endearing. In a weird way.

Seeing the big scary skeleton monster try and hold a rabbit _nicely_ was not really something Morgan expected herself to smile at.

But she did.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which death occurs.

As expected, Papyrus was extremely happy to see that not only were both Morgan and Aliza unscathed, but they had brought food back with them.

"OH, DEAR! I THOUGHT FOR SURE YOU TWO WERE GOING TO BE CAUGHT!" He nearly shrieked, stomping up to them loudly, as the rabbit Morgan was holding began to squirm in fear.

"HUH, WHAT'S THIS?" Papyrus asked, most likely more to himself than them.

"We went by my old home on the way back, and I convinced Sans to let us bring a couple of my rabbits back, so you guys could have something to eat tonight." Morgan answered anyway.

The monstrous skeleton paused, squinting down at her in disbelief for a long moment.

Then, he sniffed, as his small, empty sockets filled with tears.

She panicked, thinking she might have upset him.

"H-hey, it's ok-" She squeaked in surprise as she was lifted up, and nearly crushed between surprisingly strong arms.

"Thank You, Human. It Has Been A Very Long Time Since We've Had A Decent Meal." He said, lowering his voice, thankfully.

He put her down again after a good, long moment, to which she looked over at Sans, who was watching the exchange with an unreadable expression.

He seemed to notice her looking at him, and turned away pointedly, starting to walk away.

Papyrus noticed his brother beginning to leave, and followed him, urging the pair of humans to do the same. 

"COME, HUMANS, WE MUST PREPARE DINNER AT ONCE! AND I INSIST YOU JOIN US, Since You Were The Ones To Provide The Food." He said, dropping his voice near the end, as he led them through the eerily empty town.

...Where had the rest of the monsters gone?

Maybe Undyne's appearance had spooked them enough to keep them in their homes.

It was for the better, anyways. Morgan wasn't sure if either of the skeletons would defend them on the occasion the other Snowdin residents decided to try and eat her and Aliza.

Then again, Sans _did_ escort them to safety. 

And she herself was currently carrying half of their dinner, that in of itself should be enough to grant her favor in the eyes of the skeleton brothers.

Speaking of dinner, the main course was currently _violently_ trembling in her arms, no doubt terrified.

She supposed the poor thing had a right to be afraid.

Still, she offered comfort, in the form of petting it's soft velvety ears.

This one, she had raised from a kit, and was known to be more docile than most of the others, seeing as he had spent so long under her care.

She felt a small pang of pity stab her heart, as she reminded herself that it was likely to be killed the instant they reached Sans and Papyrus' house.

Still, she provided what empty, false reassurance she could.

In a place like this, such a thing was the closest to mercy one could afford to offer.

"AH! HOME SWEET HOME!" Papyrus announced, signalling their arrival with a jovial tone.

She noticed, as she focused back onto him, that he was holding Sans' rabbit, and clumsily attempting to pet it.

Daresay, it was... Kind of adorable.

Admittedly, about as unexpectedly cute as when his brother tried to properly handle the same bunny.

She felt a small ghost of a smile slip over her features at the thought.

Suddenly, Sans was in front of her, startling Morgan from her reverie, with extended arms.

She realized rather quickly why he wanted her rabbit.

Swallowing, she tried to swallow her own guilt, as she handed the creature over, albeit a bit hesitantly.

He gave her a small, subtle nod, before securing the rabbit in his grasp, and walking towards the house, disappearing around the side.

Only moments later, she heard the dull, audible thud, signalling the end of the rabbit's life.

She flinched, her previous attempts to stop herself from feeling horribly remorseful failing miserably.

If she hadn't already done the exact same thing no less than several dozen times, she might have cried for the poor creature.

"Come Now, My Friends, You Can Help Me With Preparing The... Other Ingredients." Papyrus muttered gently, seemingly understanding the gravity of what had just been done.

She was growing to respect him more.

Nodding, Morgan wrapped an arm around Aliza's thing, frail shoulders, and led them both inside.

And pretended not to notice the sniffle the child had tried to stifle.

Minutes later, both humans were surprised to find the small garden inside of the skeleton brother's shed. And while it only had a few small, shriveled plants, there seemed to be plenty enough ripe to prepare a good stew.

Papyrus merely puffed out his chest proudly, as the humans gawked at his measly collection of carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, and some very strange, glowing blue mushrooms.

Oddly, the mushrooms were in surprisingly abundant supply.

The exuberant skeleton had explained that this was due to their ridiculously fast reproduction rate, and told them to grab most of the cluster.

Something about them retaining small amounts of raw magic, and having lots of vitamins.

With the bundle of ingredients in tow, Morgan and Aliza followed Papyrus back inside, where he provided them both with knives to chop them with.

Granted, the knives were dull, but Morgan was sure it was still more than what most monsters had.

"Are you going to help us, Papyrus?" The adult human asked, gently.

"OH DEAR, I'D LOVE TO, BUT MY HANDS HAVE GOTTEN SHAKY OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, I WOULDN'T WANT TO ACCIDENTALLY HURT EITHER OF YOU!" He explained, as she noticed a brief flash of pure disappointment, and maybe even sadness, stretch over his bony, jagged features.

With that, neither asked any more questions, and happily chopped up everything, and added it to the stew pot Papyrus had gotten out.

The door creaked, and Sans walked in, fresh spatters of blood evident on his clothes.

Wordlessly, he placed a messily wrapped parcel of bloody meat onto the counter, to which his brother chided him for getting some of the dark, metallic liquid on his freshly mopped floors.

He just shrugged, muttered a half-hearted apology, and shuffled back out, picking up the second rabbit on the way.

Papyrus sighed, the sound loud and exaggerated, as he fished out a slightly sharper knife, and handed it to Morgan, instructing her to cut up the meat.

"NOW, MAKE SURE THEY'RE GOOD SIZED PIECES, SANS PREFERS LARGER CHUNKS!" He said, watching her with a practiced, cautious gaze, as she obeyed him.

When she was finished, he nodded, satisfied with her work.

"EXCELLENT! IT'S NICE TO FINALLY FIND SOMEONE WITH COOKING SKILLS NEARLY AS REFINED AS THE GREAT PAPYRUS!" He half-yelled, punctuating his sentence with a very loud, very goofy laugh, that cause Morgan to chortle a bit herself.

The rest of the evening carried on quite pleasantly, with her teaching the tall skeleton how to boil bones and scraps to make broth, and then smash them open and use the marrow for gravy.

She thought that the idea of cracking open bones and extracting the mushy, gooey brown insides would be somewhat disturbing for a skeleton, but he took it surprisingly well, seemingly just happy to have yet another way to avoid wasting anything.

As the stew pot sat on the stove, and Morgan finished up with prepping the scraps for broth, she felt closer with Papyrus, as though they had come to a mutual understanding.

Sure, he was still scary looking, with a mouth full of jagged, broken teeth, but he seemed to be, at his core, a soft and sweet person.

Even if he had killed and eaten humans before, it was all situational, wasn't it? 

They did what they had to in order to survive, and she could respect that.

Besides, Papyrus himself had never really made an avid attempt to kill her. If anything, he almost seemed to be beginning to become friendly with her.

...It was Sans she was worried about.

Although, maybe since his brother was becoming attached to them, he may spare them, simply to save Papyrus from the pain of knowing his brother had murdered and butchered his friends.

One could hope.

But, despite the tension she could sense when they all sat down to eat, Morgan was pleased with the day's outcomes.

They had learned more about how the Underground works, completed at least three of Papyrus' puzzles, and seemed well on their way to earning the trust of the skeleton brothers.

But most importantly, they had _**survived.**_

_And that was a lot further than most had gotten, down here._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry about the extended break! I did NOT intend to disappear for that long!  
> Anyways, this chapter was kinda short compared to the others, but I really wanted to get it out there as soon as possible, just to let you all know I wasn't dead!
> 
> Feel free to share your thoughts, comments are what gives me life!


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